Collapsible drinking-cup.



0. A. HOLLIS.

COLLAPSIBLE DRINKING CUP.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 3. 1914.

PatentedSept. 21, 1915.

' 2 SH'EETSSHEE"I 1.

a ENVENTOR K Wrmessas.

O. A. HOLLIS.

COLLAPSIBLE DRINKING CUP.

APPLICATION FILED FEB- 3.19M.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

Patented Sept. 21, 1915.

WITNESSES.

OTIS A. HOLLIS, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

COLLAPSIBLE DRINKING-CUP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 21, 1915.

Application filed February 3, 1914.. Serial No. 816,203.

I '0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Girls A. HOLLIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at 226 Charles street, Pittsburgh, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Collapsible Drinking-Cup, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to thatclass of articles designed for use as receptacles which may be carried in the pocket and used for drinking from public water fountains; and especially I seek to provide a collapsible cup, the main portion of which can be made of a cheap material, such aspaper, and which will be substantial enough for repeated use. I also aim to make a cup which can be folded into a very compact form, and which will be adapted when so folded to fit into a convenient receptacle for carrying in the pocket.

These and other objects I attain by making a cup in the form shown in the accompanying drawings wherein Figure 1 is a side view of my cup in folded position; Fig. 2 shows the cup in the position it assumes when filled with water, and also shows the relation of the two parts thereof; Fig. 3 shows one of" the forms inwhich my cup may be most compactly carried, while Fig. 4 is a top view of the cup in the, rolled position shown in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a side view showin the cup in a collapsed condition, with a portion of the paper folded over to seal the mouth thereof and to reduce the size so that the cup may be slipped into a carrying envelop, such as shown in Fig. 6; Fig. 7 shows a modification of my cup wherein the paper portion is creased so that the wallsfold together in alternate directions as shown in Fig. 8, allowing the paper portion to be folded in upon itself in a compact form; Fig. 9 shows the position which this creased form of my cup would assume when opened for use; Fig. 10 shows the cross-section of a pencil holder with a hollow stem adapted to furnish a chamber in which the collapsible form of my cup shown in Fig. 3 or Fig. 7 may be conveniently carried in the pocket, the position of the cup being indicated in the section; Fig. 11 is an exterior view of this pocket holder; Fig. 12 is a plain form of holder.

In the movement toward sanitation which has developed so rapidly within the last few years there has been a constant demand for some form of drinking cup which each indi vidual could carry and use at the various forms of public drinking fountains provided.

drinking cups of many forms have been manufactured heretofore. But I believe that my form has distinct advantages, which are new, which are of great importance, and which constitute an advance in this art.

My cup is made from two pieces of material. The first of these, 21, is a piece of paraflined paper out in a shape so that when foldedtogether with all of its edges co-incident, the side view is that shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing. The other part is a thin metal strip, 22, which is folded upon itself on its middle line and its sides pressed together to clamp between the open edges of the paper blank 21, in its folded position. The paper blank is stamped out in an approximate triangular shape, and either before it is folded and clamped, or after, the open edges are trimmed in an oval line, as shown in Fig. 1. It will be observed from a study of the shape of my cup that it is not made so as to assume a true cone shape when in normal filled condition, but on the contrary the edge XY is the hypotenuse of a right triangle, when the cup is filled. When the cup is empty the lines XY, YZ, and ZX, do not form a right triangle, but when the cupis filled, that is when the edge XY is pressed inward and the two sides are distended, as shown in Fig. 2, the point Y rises relatively so that in the normal filled position of the cup, as shown in Fig. 2, the

points X, Y, and Z, are at the angles of a right triangle formed by the three lines of the cup. I prefer this particular form be-.

cause it gives maximum capacity and volume for the size of filled cup, and the weight of water distends the sides in two arches, and

the cup may be held between finger and thumb at any points along the metal strip 22 and the line XY, without collapsing.

Another advantage of my drinking cup is lapse when filled. This metal portion also furnishes a core about which the paper portion may be ro1led,as shown in Fig. 3.- 6)

course the paper used in manufacturing my article is paraflined, or otherwise rendered waterproof, so that the cup is not destroyed by contact with water. This has the additional advantage, in connection with the particular shape of my cup, of causing all of the water to be instantly drained out after use by simply shaking the cup in inverted position.

Another feature of importance is that no paste is used in my construction. The metal clamp 22 holds the paper securely and forms a watertight joint. If desirable, the paper blank may be so clamped before the waterproofing is applied to it, and in this case the joint formed by the metal clamp and paper is hermetically sealed by the paraffin, or other wax, used in the process of waterproofing;-

Perhaps the most important feature of my invention is the making of a cup of convenient rigidity when filled with water, owing to the stiffening portion 22, and which may yet be folded into an absolutely compact form for carriage in the pocket, As shown in Fig. 3 my cup may be rolled up around the metal portion 22, and in this condition may be carried in a holder about the size of the ordinary lead pencil, as shown in Figs. 10, 11 and'12. Or the mouth of the cup may be folded over as shown in Fig.' 5 and the cup then inserted in a sanitary envelop, as shown in Fig. 6. In both cases the carrying envelop may be used to display printed advertising matter.

In the modification shown in Figs. 7 8, and 9, the paper portion 21, is creased along lines aa, bb, so as to fold alternately in opposite directions as shown in Fig. 8. This allows the cup to be collapsed into a position, the maximum size of which is the distance between the folds em and 6?), in one direction, and in the other the combined thicknesses of the paper walls fold together as shown. f

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claim is In a collapsible drinking cup having a substantially conical shape, the combination of a flexible waterproof blank adapted to form the walls of the cup, with a metal clamp running from bottom to top of the cup and closing the scam in said flexible material, the metal clamp being adapted to form a support for the cup when full, and a core about which it may be wound or folded when empty, substantially as de'scribed.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of the two OTIS A. HOLLIS.

' subscribed witnesses.

Witnesses:

J o. BAILY BROWN, FREDK STAUB. 

